Judge dismisses top charge (against defense wishes) making it easier for Jury to find him guilty of the lesser charge of negligent homicide.
In a bizarre twist, after the jury returned another note to the court indicating it remained deadlocked on Count I, the prosecution moved to dismiss the count (for second-degree manslaughter) and asked the court to instruct the jury to continue considering Count II (negligent homicide). The defense objected, contending that this move was coercive, but the judge ultimately determined to proceed in that fashion. The judge dismissed the jury, telling them to return Monday to continue deliberations as to Count II.
Negligent homicide is a class E felony in the State of New York and could put Penny behind bars for up to four years. All for subduing a crazy man who was threatening and potentially attacking innocent bystanders on a subway. Oh, and using the term crazy is not just an adjective, it is a proper description of the man in question. He was a criminal (42 arrests) with mental health issues that should not have been allowed on the street. In fact, he was arrested three separate times for unprovoked assaults on the subway. Go figure. But leave it to people like Alvin Bragg to go after someone for protecting other innocent people from a raging maniac that they failed to put behind bars.
Not sure how Bragg can get reelected after this, but it is Manhattan, and he probably banked a lot of good will by getting a guilty verdict against Donald Trump (fat lot of good it did him). I guess to be fair, the crazy homeless person (Jordon Neely) was black and Daniel Penny is white. Ahem. I am sure they pained Neely as the victim. After all his mother was killed when he was a child, so that basically allows for him to be a criminal the rest of his life with no consequences. Given that Penny was white and had military training, that could just make him a fascist in the eyes of a New York jury pool. Lord forbid if he had a red hat. You know how liberals feel about fascists.
I suspect that on Monday the jury will come back with a guilty verdict and the Judge will sentence Penny to jailtime. I hope I am wrong, but I wouldn't bet on me being so.
When you are this fucking repulsively, vomit-inducing, physically fucking ugly, it's easy to understand how much you hate everything right and good in the world -
The jury has heard the chants of guilty, guilty, guilty. The judge and prosecutor are political hacks. But there has been universal outrage over this even coming to trial. My guess is over the weekend some of the jurors will be exposed to that and with their moral compass will dig in and we'll end up with another hung jury. Maybe wishful thinking.
Someone commented on the artist's rendering of the jury that one was double-masked (some reporter said there were actually two). They should not be allowed on any jury.